Bag filling and weighing machine.



Pafented lune n, 190:. A. & L. SMITH. I

BAG FILLINH'ANIMWEIGHING MACHINE.

'(Appliestiqn filed June 98, 1960.)

3 Sheats-Shoet I (No Model.)

Inventors M M) .214 Attya.

Witnesses rm: Mimi ymmuroia. ulc'.

- Patented lune u, l90l. A. & L. SMITH.

BAG FILLING AND WEIGHING MACHINE.

(Application mm J'una 2a, 1900.: (No Iodnl.)

3 Sheets-Sheet Z. W

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In ventors Attys Tu: noun r'h'us m" wwmgiou. a. 0.,

No. 676,I00. Patented June'll, mm.

A. a L. SMITH.

BAG FILLING AND WEIGHING MACHINE.

(Application filed June 28, I900.)

(No Iodel.) 3 Sheets-Shout 3,.

9 fl" w .3 18 Q Witnesses: s A Inventors UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR SMITH AND LUKE SMITH, OF EASTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

BAG FILLING AND WElGHlNG MACHINE.

SPEGIFIGATIQN forming part of Letters Patent No. 676,100, dated June 11,1901. Application filed June 28, 1900: se i l N 21,925. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern Be it known that we, ARTHUR SMITH and LUKESMITH, residing at Easton, county of Northampton, and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in BagFilling and Weighing Ma-' our device the evolution of dust externally ofthe apparatus is entirely prevented.

Our object is to provide a machine which is of simple construction andwherein the automatic filling of bags with material can be carried onwith great facility,,while at the same time the accurate weighing of thematerial introduced into each bag will be effected.

In carrying our invention into eifect we employ a generally cylindricalbody having an external diameter approximately equal to that of the bagwhich is to be filled and having a tapered or reduced lower portion, thematerial to be filled and weighed being supplied to the cylindrical bodypast a suitable valve or cut-off device, the bags to be filled beingfrictionally secured in place over the cylindrical body by means of aspring clam ping-ring and the bag resting at its bottom on a platformwhich engages with a suitable weighing apparatus, which weighingapparatus is connected to the valve or cut-off device, whereby thematerial entering the bag will cause the same to descend relatively tothe cylindrical body until the weighing device is actuated to operatethe cut-off, and thereby interrupt the flow of material into the bag. Bymaking the cylindrical body with a tapered or reduced lower portion andby properly proportioning thelength of the bag to the other parts of theapparatus the spring clamping-ring which holds the bag in place upon thecylindrical body will arrive opposite to the tapered or reduced portionthereof at the time that the Weighing device comes into play, so thatthe latter can operate without error, which would not be the case if theeffect of the friction of the clamping-ring were imposed upontheweighing device. In carrying our invention further into effect Weinterpose between the weighing device and the table on which the bag iscarried or with which the bag cooperates'a spring or springs ofsufficient tension to assist in the proper supporting of the bag duringthe filling there of, but not of en fi'icient tension as to result intheoperation of the weighing device, where-' by the bag after it has beenintroduced in place over the cylindrical body will be held with itsbottom in contact with the lower end of said body, so that the materialwill be do from which the material passed into the bag 1 to fill thelatter from the bottom up.

The invention relates to other details of construction, all of whichwill be more fully hereinafter described and claimed.

In order that the invention may be better understood, attention isdirected to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisspecification, and in which Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of theapparatus, showing a partly-filled bag in po sition thereon; Fig. 2, avertical section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1, showing the bag entirelyfilled and the weighing device as being operated; Fig. 3, a horizontalsection on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1 looking downwardly; Fig. 4:, a detailview illustrating the clampingring, and Fig. 5 a detail sectional viewillustrating a modification of the cut-ofi mechanism.

In all of the above viewscorresponding parts are represented by the samenumerals of reference.

1 represents a vertical pillar or post which may carry the parts of ourimproved device, but which may be replaced by any other desirable andconvenient support, frame, or

2 represents'a hopper which is supplied with i the material in anysuitable way, but prefcharacter, in the present instance comprising afiap or valve 6, carried on a central shaft 7 and normally occupying theposition shown in full lines in Fig. 1. The flap or valve beingcentrally pivoted is obviously balanced, so that it can be opened andclosed with a minimum pressure. In order to improve the accuracy of thevalve, or, in other words, to reduce the leakage of material past thesame during the closing operation, we may in some instances find itdesirable to employ a pivoted flap 8, mountedin the passage 3 below thevalve 6 and connected to the lat ter by a flexible connection, as shown,whereby the closing of the valve 6 will result in the simultaneouselevation of the flap 8 to receive a part at least of material which mayhave flowed past the valve 6 during the-closv ing thereof.

The bag 9, which is to be filled, is of any suitable character, madeeither of paper or a textile fabric and having a diameter approximatelyequal to that of the body 4, but of course never less than that of saidbody. The upper end of the bag is frictionally held in place upon thebody by means of a clamping-ring 10, the ends of which are cut away at11 11, as shown in Fig. 4, whereby when the clamping-ring descends to aposition coincident with the tapered or reduced neck 5 ot the body thesections of said ring will tightly upon the said neck. The clampingringmay be made of one piece; but it preferably is made of two pieces, asshown in Fig. 4, elasticallyforced together by means of a spring 12. Inorder'to limit the downward movement of the clamping-ring, we connectthe same by means of chains 13 to stationary arms 14, which chainspermit the clampingring to descend to apoint almost in line with thebottom of the tapered neck 5.

In order to properly support the bag and to normally force the bottom ofthe latter in contact with the open mouth of the neck 5, we employ atable 15, from the bottom of which projects a tube 16, telescoping overa tube 17. Within the tubes 16 and 17 are a plurality of springs 18,preferably of difierent tension, as shown, whereby as the table 15descends it will encounter a gradually-increasing resistance, to therebysecure a more uniform return of the table than if a single powerfulspring were employed. The tube 17 is connected at its lower end to aplatform 19, which takes a vertical movement between thestandards 20, asshown, the platform bescale 26, forming an ordinary weighing device. Onthe bottomof the platform 19 is a cam27, which cooperates witha roller28 on the end of a horizontal lever 29, the other end of said leverbeing provided with a roller 30, with which cooperates an inclined cam31 on a rod 32, suitably guided, as shown, so as to be capable ofvertical movement. The upper end of the .rod 32 connects with oneend ofa lever 33, connected to the shaft 7 of the flap or valve 6, wherebywhen the roller 30 is removed from the path of the cam 31 the rod 32 maydescend by its weight to close the flap or valve 6., If desired, theweight of the rod 32 may be supplemented by a suitable spring for morerapidly effecting this movement. The lever 33 is continued, as shown, onthe other side of the shaft, and cooperating with I ICC and the shaft 7is preferably suitably packed,

by reason of which expedients the more delicate parts of the'devic'ewill be protected from dust, while the escape of dust around the shaft 7will be avoided.

Instead of a cut-off of the ordinary flap or valve character, as shown,any other convenient device for accomplishing the desired end may beemployed -as, for instance, the modification shown in Fig. 5. With thismodification the hopper 2 is formed at its lower end with a horizontalchamber 39, which connects with the passage 3, leading to thecylindrical body'4. Mounted in the chamber 39 is a screw or conveyer40,- carried on a shaft 41 and serving to feed material from the hopper2 into the passage 3, as will be understood. The shaft 41' is driven inany suitable wayas, for instance, through the spur-gear 42 and pinion43, the shaft of the pinion being provided witha clutch 44, which isoperated by the movement of the'cut-off'rod 32, whereby the descent ofthe cut-01f rod when released will result in the disengagement of theclutch 44 and the stopping of the feed device.

Having reference particularly to Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, the operationof the device illustrated therein is as follows: Material being properlysupplied to the hopper 2, the bag 9 is inserted over the body 4 and isclamped frictionally to'the body, as shown, by means of the elastic clamping-ring 10. The springs 18 by reason of their tension maintain theIIO - table in its uppermost position, forcing'the bottom of the baginto engagement with the bottom of the neck 5 of the body. During mentof the lever 29.

these operationsit will be understood that the cut-off device will beclosed, the cut-off rod 32 being in its lowermost position. By nowdepressing the foot-lever 37 the restore ing-rod 35 opens the valve 6and elevates the cut-off rod 32, so as to move the cam 31 above theantifriction-roller' 30, the tension of the spring 45 (shown in Fig. 3)resisting the move- As the material accu mulates" in the bag the lattertends to descend, forcing the table 15 downward against the tension ofthe springs 18, but not; operating the weighing device. When the slackin the bag below the cylindrical body has been taken up, the bag as awhole will move downward relatively to the body, the clamping-ring 1Odescending with the bag and holding the same in close engagement withthe exterior walls of the body, so as to prevent.

the escape of dust past the same. When the bag has been almostcompletely filled, the clamping-ring 10 will have moved down oppositethe reduced or tapered neck 5, so that the frictional retardationtheretofore experienced will be removed. When the clampingring 10 hasmoved to its extreme lowermost position, the tube 16 will engage,preferably, the top of the platform 19, so that the weight of the bagwill be imposed directly upon the weighing device,,and when sufficientadditional material has been added to the bag to operate the scale-beam23 the slight descent of the platform will cause the cam 27 to move thereleasing-lever 29, to thereby release the cut-off rod 32 and to permitthe cutoff devices to operate to cut off the supply of material to thebag. The bag is then suitably tied and removed from the machine, a newbag is inserted in place, and the operations explained are repeated.With the modification of device shown in Fig. 5 the same operation takesplace, except that the operation of the foot-lever 37 results in theengagement of the clutch 4:4: to start the cut-oif device, while theoperation of the cutoff rod 32 results in the disengagement of theclutch to stop the cut-off device.

Having now described our invention, what Y we claim as new,'and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. In a bag filling and weighing machine, the combination with acylindrical body having a tapered or reduced neck, a springclamping-ring for frictionally holding a bag in place upon the body,said ring being freely movable longitudinally with respect to, and offof, the body, and a' cut-off device for permitting, the flow of materialto be cut off from the body, substantially as set forth.

2. In a bag filling and weighing machine, the combination with acylindrical body having a tapered or reduced neck, a springclamping-ring for frictionally holding a bag in place upon the body,said ring being freely movable longitudinally with respect to, and offof, the body, a cut-off device for permitting the fiow of material to becut off from the body, and an elastically-impelled table mounted belowthe body, and with which the bag cooperates, substantially as set forth.

3. In a bag filling and weighing machine, the combination with acylindrical body having a tapered or reduced neck, a springclamping-ring for frictionally holding a bag in place upon the body,said ring being freely movable longitudinally with respect to, and,

off of, the body, a cut-olf device for permitting the flow of materialto be cut off from the body, a vertically-movable table mounted belowthe body and with which the bag cooperates, a weighing device connectedto the table for weighing the bag and its contents thereon, andconnections between the weighing device and the cut-off device,substantially as set forth.

4. In a bag filling and weighing machine, the combination with acylindrical body having a tapered or reduced neck, a springclamping-ring for frietionally holding a bag in place upon the body,said ring beingfreely movable longitudinally with respect to, and offof, the body, a cut-off device for permitting the fiow of material to becut off from the body, a vertically-movable table mounted below the bodyand with which the bag cooperates, and elastically connected to theweighing device, and connections between the weighing device andthecut-off device, substantially as set forth.

5. In a bag filling and weighing machine, the combination withacylindrical body having a tapered or reduced neck, aspring clampin g-ring for frictionally holding a bag in place upon the body, said ring beingfreely movable longitudinally with respect to, and off of, the body, acut-ofi device for permitting the flow of material to be cut off fromthe body, a vertically-movable table mounted below the body and withwhich the bag cooperates, and elastically connected to the weighingdevice by means of a plurality of springs of varying tension, andconnections between the weighing device and the cut-olf device,substantially as set forth.

6. In a bag filling and weighing machine, the combination of acylindrical body having a tapered or reduced lower neck, a cut-offmechanism for admitting material to and cutting it off from said body, aclamping-ring surrounding the body for holding a bag frictionally inengagement therewith, and flexible connections with the clamping-ringfor limiting the downward movement thereof, as and for the purposes setforth.

7. In a bag filling and weighing machine, the combination of acylindrical body having a tapered or reduced lower neck, a cut-offmechanism for admitting material to and cutting it off from said body, aclamping-ring surrounding the body for holding a bag frictionally inengagement therewith, flexible connections with the clamping-rin g forlimiting the downward movement thereof, a vertically-movable table belowthe body with which the bag cooperates, a weighing device connected tothe table, and connections be-' tween the weighing device and thecut-off device, substantially as set forth.

8. In a bag filling and weighing machine, the combination with a tablefor carrying the bag-which is being filled, a cut-off device for cuttingoff the supply of material entering the bag, a weighing device,connections between the Weighing device and the cut-off mechanism,telescoping tubes between the table and the weighing device, and aspring in said tubes, substantially as set forth.

9; In a bag filling and weighing machine,

the combination with atable on which the bag is being carried andacut-off mechanism for permitting the supply of material to the bag tobe cut off, of a platform connected to said table, a scale-beam borneupon at one end by said platform and carrying a weight at the other end,a cut-off rod connected with the cut-off mechanism, a, releasing-leverfor locking the cut-oft rod in one position, a cam on the table foractuating said releasing-lever to permit the release of the cut-off rod,

and a restoring-lever for restoring the cut-off rod to its normalposition, substantially as set forth. i

10, In a bag filling and weighing machine, the combination with a tableon which the bag is carried and a cut-0E mechanism for permitting thesupply of the-material to the bag to be cut off, of a platform connectedto said table, ascale-beam borne upon at one end by said platform andcarrying a weight at the other end, a cut-01f rod connected with thecut-off mechanism, a releasing-lever for locking the cut-off rod in oneposition, a cam on the table for actuating said releasing-lever topermit the release of the cut-off rod, and a roller at each end ofsaidreleasing-lever cooperating respectively with said cam and with thelower end of the cut-off rod, substantially as set forth.

This specification signed and witnessed this 23d day of June, 1900. v

ARTHUR SMITH.

1 LUKE SMITH.

Witnesses: I

GEO. H. MU'roHLER, JAs. J. DOYLE.

